Chapter 23
The following evening, I decided I had reached my limit.
I had tolerated the disappearances long enough, brushing aside the strange timing, the careful deflections, and the increasingly suspicious pattern of conveniently vague answers.
No more.
This time, I was getting answers.
I caught him near the back entrance just as he reached for the door-again, of course-and moved quickly to block his path before he could slip away.
Rhaevan stopped, glanced down at me, then at the doorway I had claimed, and finally back at me. A faint smile curved his lips.
"No."
I narrowed my eyes. "No?"
"Yes."
"That is a very strange way to begin a conversation."
"That is because I already know this is not going to end well for me."
I crossed my arms. "For you?"
"Yes."
His expression remained infuriatingly calm, as though this were all mildly amusing.
"You look determined," he added.
"I am."
"That is concerning."
"It should be."
His smile widened just enough to be irritating.
I pointed at the door behind him. "You are not leaving."
"That sounds less like a request and more like imprisonment."
"Good. You understand."
He chuckled, and I did my best to ignore the deeply inconvenient effect that sound had on me.
"Rhaevan."
My tone shifted, and so did his expression. The amusement faded, replaced by something more attentive.
"You have been disappearing."
He said nothing-not denial, not confusion, just silence-and somehow that made everything worse.
"You vanish for long periods," I continued, "then return as if nothing happened, and every answer you give is technically true in a way that feels like lying."
His gaze stayed fixed on mine, steady and unreadable.
"What are you doing?" I pressed.
When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter. "Cassie-"
"No." I shook my head. "No deflecting, no vague answers, and absolutely no charming smiles."
A brief pause followed.
"Actually," I added, "definitely no charming smiles."
That almost made him smile, which only proved my point.
I exhaled sharply and held his gaze. "I am asking you directly. What are you hiding from me?"
For the first time in days, something in his expression shifted. It was not amusement or calm, but something heavier-something that made my stomach tighten.
He looked conflicted.
And suddenly, I hated that look, because it felt like confirmation.
I had been right.
He was hiding something.
My voice dropped. "You are hiding something."
It was no longer a question.
Rhaevan closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. When he looked at me, the calm was still there, but now it felt strained, like something held together by sheer control.
"Yes," he said.
My heart dropped-not because he admitted it, but because he did so without hesitation.
I swallowed. "What is it?"
He studied me for a long moment before answering quietly, "I was going to tell you."
That single phrase sent something cold crawling through my chest.
Going to.
Not now. Not earlier. Later.
"When?" I asked.
He did not answer, and that silence told me everything I needed to know.
I let out a short, humorless laugh. "That bad?"
His jaw tightened. "Cassie, listen to me carefully."
No.
I knew that tone, and I hated it-the tone people used right before they said something that changed everything.
My pulse quickened. "What did you do?"
Before he could answer, the entrance bell rang-sharp and clear, cutting through the tension like a blade.
We both turned.
My stomach dropped.
Something inside me already knew.
Whatever was waiting at the front of the inn, nothing about my life was going to remain simple after this.